ImagesMagUK_August_2021

lines of stitching in an embroidered area or object, and it is two-dimensional – it only describes a single layer of thread and the space between the rows in this layer as they lay on the surface of your work piece; it adequately describes ‘coverage’. When dealing with density issues common to punched holes in fills, however, we have to look at a more complex understanding which pairs our concept of coverage density with what I call ‘three-dimensional density’. When you find yourself battling concave, convex, or rippled garments that suffer from an excess of stitches, it’s not the coverage that causes your woes so much as the thread that’s passing through the garment. Since fabric for garments is largely opaque, we can assume that it’s ‘full’ of woven or knitted threads that span the height and width of our garment. When we drive threads through it, they remain like wedges, spreading apart the threads in our garment, pushing and distorting the material. Layering vs crowding Although laying threads over each other may build bulk, it’s where the needle penetrations are persistently too close together or too frequently in the same spot that we get knotting, threadbreaks, and fabric damage. Cutting small letters from a fill often produces tiny ‘fingers’ and projections smaller than you’d usually want to use a fill to create; far smaller than you’d use traditional automatic fill underlays to support. The numerous penetrations of the fill stitch and the small edge run and tatami underlay stitches quickly build to create excessive dimensional density as they are crowded together at smaller sizes. Some digitizers will also place satin letters over these holes, producing closely aligned rows of stitch penetrations at the edges of the column that are closely aligned with those at the edges of the holes in the fills. Moreover, for those who literally ‘subtract’ the area behind overlying letters, if they do account for pull compensation, the stitches under small holes may nearly appear as if they were filled continuously or, if they have not accounted for compensation, they are likely to see gaps around or near the overlying lettering in the final embroidery. All in all, stitching satin lettering on top of an unbroken fill has a lower impact on the garment and leaves less chance of registration errors. Unbroken fills have longer stitches and simpler, evenly spaced underlay and travel. Plus, a single layer of satin stitches over fill adds very little 3D density if done well. The smooth surface of the fill allows the overlying lettering to be executed with minimal underlay, and only at the junctions where satin strokes overlap is there any appreciable crowding of penetration points. With light and balanced densities in both the fill and the text, and the usual careful construction of characters one should always do to avoid overly short or crowded stitches, the underlying fill won’t cause any ill effects. Sharpening the edge My most important reason by far for preferring overlying satin text to cutting holes in fills has to do with edge quality. The very nature of a fill stitch causes certain elements in text to render poorly in fills. This is related somewhat to density, but only in as much as the way stitches apply to a shape is very different between a turning satin and a unidirectional fill. The way we tend to judge the edge quality in satin stitch generally has to do with the smoothness of the edge. When a standard satin stitch letter is ‘saw-toothed’ or otherwise rough, we’re usually looking for a way to ‘fill in’ the areas between those obvious stitches Unsurprisingly, the stitch count in the satin stitched letter on this piece is higher overall – that said, the difference is miniscule. The cut-out block on the left is 1,267 stitches, while its satin-stitch lettered counterpart is only 1,303. Due to the number of travel stitches and small stitches in the cut-out fill, it actually has more stitches than the fully filled block beside it, with the fully filled block at only 1,176 stitches to the cut block’s 1,267. For a small increase in count, the look is vastly improved In the case of a complicated letter with trapped loops and counters, the complexity of the remaining fill is great. The travel stitches are not only more extensive, but the inner counters of the letter now require a trim and jump cycle unless a visible run or jump stitch is left in place. Although the satin-stitch letter is 300 stitches more than the cut-out on the left, it doesn’t have the quality issues seen as the stitches become further apart along the curves of the letter, nor does it require the extra jumps and trims outside of the necessary colour change The more holes in an object, the more complicated the pathing www.images-magazine.com AUGUST 2021 images 91 KB TIPS & TECHNIQUES